During live coverage of President Obama signing two executive orders on "equal pay" on Tuesday, MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell announced: "He is basically signing an executive order which will be a big deal for federal contractors – think about all the federal contracts in the defense and intelligence communities alone – but it's also a big political issue."

Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus proclaimed: "It's a very big political issue and it is a winning political issue for President Obama and Democrats, and they know it....There is a gender gap that hugely favors Democrats....and single women are particularly responsive to Lilly-Ledbetter-type of arguments about unequal treatment....So it's a triple win for the President and Democrats."